On the appointment of Pope Leo

The last week has been a warm one and as mentioned it was a rather busy week for news that we really couldn't keep up with it.

Following the death of Pope Francis in rather less time than it's taking the Anglican Church to organize the appointment it's most senior Bishop, the Cardinals have appointed a new head of the Roman Catholic church.

Robert Prevost was selected and has chosen the styling Pope Leo XIV (14th) and he is an american by birth, widely travelled, speaks several languages fluently and appears to share many of his predecessors concerns coupled with the more humble approach to the role, being more of a bridge-builder with the more modern secularized world.

Concerns over the handling of historic sexual abuse issues, excessive influence in some countries running and long running issues around the role of women and place of lgbt people within the wider church and internally have had an impact on membership, extent to which people are less likely to just follow papal teaching and church attendances.

That was something Pope Francis made some headway with, joining in discussion about things that faith and belief plays a part in such as stewardship of our planet and its environment that some while not attending Mass as often in the past do care about as well as social justice generally.

Much of my family are Roman Catholic, the reminder being Anglo-Catholic so it's pretty much home for me, some of those values show in my views around certain topics in much the same way I am sure your beliefs do in what you do but values matter.

VE Day reflections

 

Yesterday was VE Day and while its politics aren't mine Phillip Zac was a brilliant cartoonist the Daily Mirror employed during WW2 whose cartoon are easily the most iconic and at times moving of that era, really getting the emotions.

For me this cartoon speaks volumes not just of the sentiments of many of that generation but really invites us to think about what it means when we consider the millions of lives lost, the destruction of so many towns and cities that it took us here in the U.K. decades to really recover from and the massive economic price paid: For Freedom.

Our Freedom

The Freedom of hundreds of Millions in Europe as imperfect as that peace proved to be

To strive to ensure it Never Happens Again

To co-operate to help each other and resolve our differences peacefully.

Some trends in our world, the war in Ukraine, disengagement from being a force for diplomatic good by the United States and indifference to the difference N.A.T.O. has made keeping Europe free and in the main peaceful are very worrying.

We should NEVER lose it again.

Another one bites the dust

A new month almost a year on from the General Election, four month near enough from the arrival of one Donald J. Trump in the White House and we return to more current affairs.

We are in Staffordshire, specifically Greater Stoke on Trent an area radically changed in a half century into a if not the world centre of Pottery production with a massive legacy in that regard beyond Coal mining and Iron and Steel production which we had a good deal of.

Changing dining habits, the increased use of dishwasher leading to less specialized crockery being bought, competition from much cheaper labour countries, wholesale "dumping" at below cost foreign production and monsterous hikes in energy prices which firing wares in the kiln has seen decimation over recent years.

Late Wednesday it was announced the famous Moorcroft pottery with a very long history is set to close as the impact of energy costs and, yes, the impact of Tariffs on U.S. sales, a major sales area for speciality ware which they produce.
 

 It is sad the brand and its wear will be lost beyond obviously the loss of jobs but as this continues it is bound to have an impact on skills which in order to maintain the industry are needed to be taught both in college and also in the workplace.

End of month away thoughts

 

It's Friday, no scrub that it's really Thursday when I've written this post as I was out this morning getting a few things from town as I'll be away from today to the end of the of the week end with all the delays and that which come with having a life beyond Angels Continuity and SH.tv.

With all that's been going on in the adult world that we've covered on this blog, talked about on forums and a few other things on my mind that, with regret I am unable to state,  I need a break just get away from all of that and do something far more relaxing which would help my mental health too.

It was St. Georges on Wednesday and while at school we did mark it with readings about his life and raised the flag on our flag pole, it seems little is done in our communities today to just mark the occasion in the way others do, quite rightly for their Patron Saints and the like. 

Just why that is is something I find puzzling given how much attention is paid to identity as an issue in modern life.

Grown up discourse

 

Plenty of things being talked about in the grown up world without much clarity as ever from what a "peace deal" in Ukraine may look like and how everyone involved might feel about it to the reverberations from the Supreme Court in the UK deciding that as far the 2010 Equality Act was concerned the intended meaning of the term Woman was that of a biologically female which sticking my old "legal hat" on is pretty much what most of us in that area would say with no intended slight to anyone who is or may be from a gender point of view different to that of their at birth sex and with recognition of their struggles.

In most respects being socially your gender is the main thing, we seldom have to prove biological basis in everyday life, for those who formally transition a Gender Recognition Certificate acknowledges the path we have been along providing a basis for reissuing birth certificates and passports to match to make getting by easier.

The issues around changing rooms, restroom provision and so do need working through as even for some who are not trans they don't always work out well.

Women complain about restrooms being forever occupied, increasing numbers of men are wanting separate cubicles, dads with tiny tots need changing areas while taking them out, disabled people like me find our facilities misused or often out of order.

Rather than having bolt ons, perhaps we need to rethink how we provide things for all of us and work though things like changing rooms such as in hospitals or fitness centres to provide more privacy and separate access to each.

Facilities in some of our towns and cities are getting worse when it comes to public toilets.

There is a concern, much understood given the amount of disrespect and actual verbal abuse I get for being disabled by "the normals" that in directing sex back to biological basis it leads to some, a small proportion admittedly to target anyone at variance.

It is variance these cowards target wither its sexuality, having a white stick, gender difference, being autistic, having a physical disability and so on. Staying in only rewards them and doesn't help all of us who are targeted one or more aspect of our lives we have little control over.

We need in everyday life a combination of  a live and let live attitude and an understanding that where we do share spaces of understanding each others needs and concerns and less them and us.

It's the world economy, stupid?

 It's not all stopped or paused for ninety days but good god almighty what a week we've all been through with the suited baby with all the vocabulary of  six year old minus the fluency crashing the markets, removing stability by the hour.

The whole business of ever increasing tariffs between China and the United States currently over 104% and 84% respectively with neither side prepared back of and agree to look into the issues around dumping things such as steel at below cost and barriers to trade through diplomatic means.

It is like watching to kids in the park threatening and counter threatening each other as the atmosphere gets uglier and uglier as one by one we all leave the park losing out.

It never really works.

In so far far as elsewhere goes, the pause is to be welcomed but even the 10% we were due to pay still would of adversely affected UK Exports and from the Jobs not least here in the Midlands with the Car and Pottery industries.

The 25% on things from the EU and the threat of retaliatory actions would impact us as we still trade a fair bit with the EU as much as post Brexit the volume has dropped by at least a third and the basis for the figures seems...muddled.

One can only hope this breather is used constructively to set up proper talks to explore with independent trade exports how these disagreements can be resolved with less damaging measures. 

Governance  by chaos???

Messing up the economy Donald style...

Was it that long ago back in June 1983 I took my Economics examination in three papers and from a week or two later had no lessons to attend until school was out for good?

We were in throws of major changes as banks and building societies started to do what had been each others bespoke activities, public sector businesses were being prepared for privatization and if they were not profitable, being shut down.

Globalization and trade liberalization were the new order of the day even on the financial markets because it was believed by all but the hard political left competition on a global scale lead to greater efficiency, lower prices and greater prosperity than shoring up anything any once country did where there was no competitive advantage in the same.

Now on Wednesday President Trump, leader of the country that really pushed that philosophy, signalled he was having none of it sticking protective tariffs from 10% to 34% beyond individual whole world tariffs on sectors such as Steel or Automobiles of some 25%

It is on the face of it fragrant violation of the rules of trade the WTO (World Trade Organization) expect of members that include the United States and is likely beyond legal action likely to result in retaliatory measures and a full blown trade war.

How ____ irresponsible in a time of global recession can you get when we need to grow the global economic cake, finding work for those without and getting major infrastructure works done to aid it in individual countries. 

And actually protectionism doesn't work. You just  waste your GDP sustaining inefficiencies.